


Run

by Paperback_Head



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 20:16:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21042143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paperback_Head/pseuds/Paperback_Head
Summary: Set post 5x09Just a little moment between Root and Shaw that could lead to a change in events.





	Run

The couple lay in bed, both resting comfortably on their sides facing each other. They weren’t touching, however there was only a two-inch-long gap between their bodies. They restrained themselves from reaching out but refused to take their eyes off the other. Shaw’s dark, seemingly expressionless gaze met Root’s infatuated honey brown orbs in a standoff which left both parties calmer than either had been since before the war with Samaritan had begun.

It was only Shaw’s third night back and she still wasn’t entirely convinced that this was real, that she had escaped the simulation hell of the last nine months and was finally safe. She wanted so desperately to believe that Root, this Root, was the real thing and not some crappy, albeit convincing, simulation Root that was just Samaritan’s way of finding the Machine. Shaw had already made her mind up that she was done with everything either way. If this was real, she needed to be removed from the equation. The team couldn’t function properly if she was going to question every little detail. She was a risk, a liability really.

Root, on the other hand, had already sworn to never let Shaw out of her sight. She had learned many things since she had found the Machine; about the world, about humanity, but, perhaps most importantly, she had learned a lot about herself. She had learned that, for once in her life, she was genuinely interested in the survival of other human beings. She had learned that she wasn’t just interchangeable and that her actions could be impactful and meaningful.

Yet, the change that she had found most difficult to accept was that she was undeniably in love with Sameen Shaw. The realisation had hit her after her game of chicken with the Machine. She would have never defied the Machine, challenged the Machine, if it had been Reese or Finch or Fusco who had been captured that fateful day at the Stock Exchange. But, for some reason, the fact that it was Shaw filled Root with rage and broke her heart in a way that she never imagined she would ever experience. Not that she would ever vocalise any of this, especially not to Shaw. 

Root decided on that moment to escape her head, to appreciate Shaw’s presence for what felt like the millionth time in the last three days and, yet, she was still in awe that she was back. That despite all the statistics that the Machine had been relaying to her for the last nine months, Shaw was alive, a little scatterbrained and confused but alive, nonetheless.

Yet, when Root’s focus fully settled back on to the woman lying beside her, she could see that Shaw’s mind was, once again, somewhere else. It had been a frequent occurrence in the last few days, whether it be on purpose or accidental, Shaw’s focus would never remain in the present for too long. Shaw had yet to tell her any additional information about the simulations or her time in captivity, but Root had deduced that certain actions or things she said would trigger Shaw into what Root had dubbed as reality glitches. 

“Sameen,” Root whispered soothingly, snapping Shaw out of her daze far quicker than she had anticipated. It often took Root several attempts to successfully gain Shaw’s full attention, as the tendrils of her torturous experience clawed away at her mind. It was moments like this that filled Root with more hatred towards Samaritan than anything else. She watched as Shaw struggled for a moment, almost slipping back into her thoughts before she tried again. “Hey, stay with me.”

That seemed to be enough to reconfigure Shaw’s focus back to the present, back to Root. Shaw never imagined that she would ever have, what the ISA had referred to as, a safe place. She was a sociopath after all, with the emotional range of a brick wall. But it was around simulation two hundred and three that she came to realise that Root was her escape; her safe place. 

It had been difficult for her to accept at first. She couldn’t fathom how the awkward, irritable know-it-all hacker had become the key to her survival, but it infuriated her. She became even more aggressive in the following simulations, if such a thing were possible, but they were still unable to break her. Eventually she had come to accept it because, whether she liked it or not, Root had been the only thing keeping her going. And the more Shaw thought about their current circumstances, the more she convinced herself that the team, that Root, was better off without her. 

“I can’t stay here,” Shaw admitted quietly, to Root or herself neither was sure. “I’m a liability that the Machine can’t afford, especially now.”

“Then we leave together,” Root replied easily, which even surprised Root herself.

“You can’t just abandon the Machine,” Shaw said as if it was a fact, slightly raising her voice to convey how serious she was. She knew firsthand how essential the Machine was to Root. The Machine had been Root’s saving grace, her purpose in life, and Shaw didn’t know if she could live with herself knowing that she was the reason that Root lost that connection.

“Watch me,” Root answered almost instantly, a spark of defiance shining through as she kept her eyes locked on Shaw’s. She was ready for an argument, for a fight if that’s what it took. She was not, however, ready to watch Shaw been taken from her again, especially by the woman herself.

At one point in time, Root had been ready to sacrifice everyone and everything for the Machine, for the AI that had given Root purpose and direction. But that was before; before Shaw, before Samaritan, before the Stock Exchange. And Root had come to realise, after a lot of thinking and soul searching, that she could sacrifice the Machine for Shaw, but she could never sacrifice Shaw for the Machine.

When Shaw’s gaze finally shifted from her eyes, which she had come to realise was a defence mechanism, Root seized the moment to finally reach out to Shaw. She kept her touch light, ignoring the aching urge to selfishly grasp tighter, and took her time intertwining their fingers, allowing Shaw every opportunity to pull away.

Instead, Shaw merely settled her gaze on their joined hands and began to, what Root suspected was subconscious, stroked her thumb lightly across Root’s knuckles. It was the first time that Shaw had ever allowed Root to touch her like this, without a real purpose behind it. Normally, physical contact between the pair was either sexual, accidental or quickly shoved off by Shaw. But this was more, and they both were hyper aware of that fact.

“A lot changed while you were away. I changed but, more importantly, my priorities changed.” Root explained softly, giving Shaw’s hand a light squeeze and pausing until her eyes shifted back to her. She needed Shaw to understand that she would do anything to remain by her side, even if that meant giving up the Machine. “You are my priority. I meant what I said in the park; I can’t live without you, especially now that I have you back.”

“I can’t stay here, Root.” Shaw repeated. She couldn’t, wouldn’t, allow herself to be the reason Samaritan won. She knew that there was a very high chance that she could screw everything up in a big way if she remained in New York, especially when she was still trying to discern whether this was reality or not.

“So, when do we go?” Root asked her as if it was the simplest thing in the world, as if she wasn’t giving everything up that she had spent her entire life fighting for. Shaw didn’t know if it was just her disorder or her experience from the last nine months, but she couldn’t conceive why Root would just drop everything for another person, for her.

“That simple, huh?” Shaw whispered to herself, in obvious disbelief. “I can’t ask you for that, Root.”

“Then it’s a good thing you’re not asking me.” Root replied cheekily, her usual grin settling into place with her gaze filled with adoration. “Sameen, I’ve been hiding since I was twelve. This might be the first time I feel like I belong. Not with the Machine, not with the team. You. I belong with you; I make sense with you. So, yes sweetie, it is that simple.”

It took a moment for the words to sink into Shaw’s brain, to be placed into the growing mental file she had of memories and interactions with Root that had been her only escape from the simulations. When they finally did, Shaw found herself unable to verbally respond. By nature, she was not one for sentiment and yet, somehow, she felt a sharp twinge in her chest as she continued to gaze at Root and allowed her words to be processed.

She shifted her gaze to the hacker’s lips briefly, shifting closer ever so slightly. It didn’t take more than a moment for Root to catch on, more than happy to close the gap between their lips completely. It was the first kiss they had shared since she had returned, second kiss of their entire relationship that held no expectation of sex. 

Unlike the aggressive, quick, frenzied kiss that Shaw had initiated at the Stock Exchange, this one was painstakingly slow and surprisingly gentle. Root wanted nothing more than to savour the moment, commit every possible detail to memory, and Shaw seemed more than obliged to allow her control. It was Shaw who pulled away first, yet she remained a mere few millimetres from the hacker.

“What is it, Sameen?” Root asked in a whisper, in fear of ruining the peaceful nature of the moment. 

“In the simulations,” Shaw spoke with her gaze remaining locked with Root’s, needing the other woman to understand where her head was at. “We never kissed liked that.”

“Hmmm, what did we do?” Root inquired in a sultry voice, her volume decreasing to a near whisper. Shaw watched as Root’s classic infuriating grin lit up the hacker’s entire face, her eyes sparkling with desire and mischief.

Shaw responded with an eye roll as she finally released Root’s hand in favour of settling on her own hand on the hacker’s cheek, pulling her closer for a fiery, passionate kiss which left them both gasping for air.

“For starters, less talking.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this fic. 
> 
> This fic was inspired by the incredible song Run by Daughter. Literally had it on repeat as I was writing and the fic seemed to write itself. I'm also pretty happy and proud of how it turned out. I wasn't too sure if I was gonna by post it, but why not?
> 
> I've taken a pretty long hiatus from writing and, I will say, I have missed it a lot. Life has just kind of gotten in the way. I'm not too sure if I will revisit the other fics that I have left unfinished, just because it has been so long since I've written them, but I will definitely be leaving them up for reading.


End file.
